Our initiatives

Priorities for supporting student excellence

  • Health and well-being
  • Academic success
  • Impactful co-curricular experiences
  • Inclusive campus community
  • Community-building

Health and wellness

ÂÌñÉç believes that supporting our community's well-being extends beyond providing high-quality health and counseling options for students. We meet students, faculty and staff where they are — in their residence halls, offices or student groups — to provide support and education that will lead to better productivity and happier, healthier people.
Students dressed as fruits and vegetables pose with baxter at a veggie tail gate event photo

Healthy Campus Initiative

The goal of ÂÌñÉç's Healthy Campus Initiative is to create an environment and identity that encourages and supports healthy living. Improving the health and well-being of our community and its members improves students' capacity to learn, reduces some of the impediments to academic performance, improves student retention by improving coping strategies and psychological health, and sets the stage for lifelong healthy living.
Three young black woman sit studying at an outdoor picnic table on campus photo

Residential Life Master of Social Work Interns

ÂÌñÉç Residential Life offers case management services right in our communities. A staff of interns from the University's Master of Social Work (MSW) program are here to help residents with life on campus, supporting their transition to young adulthood by providing assistance with social, behavioral, emotional and academic concerns.
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Health Education

In addition to the Decker Student Health Services Center and University Counseling Center, several health education programs are run through Health Promotion and Prevention Services. Healthy Campus Peer Agent interns promote student well-being by working to increase awareness of wellness resources on campus, provide support and encourage responsible decision-making. Their programming focuses on wellness topics including alcohol, tobacco & other drugs, general health education, mental health 20:1 Interpersonal Violence Prevention.
 

Collaborating for academic success

Offices within the Division of Student Affairs work directly with faculty to provide students with valuable experiences that augment and enhance what they learn in the traditional classroom.

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Internships

The Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development oversees the largest credit-bearing internship program on campus, collaborating with local, regional, national and international businesses and organizations to provide valuable career development opportunities open to students of all majors. The Fleishman Center also partners with campus entities to provide specialized support, such as Residential Life career consultants, liaisons to each school and college, and on-demand presentations covering a variety of career topics.
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Community-engaged learning

The Center for Civic Engagement works with faculty across campus to develop credit-bearing community-engaged learning courses in which students use what they're learning in the classroom to address a real need in the community. Students learn how to be flexible and overcome unexpected barriers and missteps that aren't always obvious in the classroom. They work with diverse communities and individuals, developing tolerance and understanding, critical thinking, problem-solving, leadership, communication and teamwork skills, and are thus better prepared for success in the workplace and as citizens engaging in civic life.
First-year students sit outside under a tent discussing the common read book in small groups photo

Common Read Experience

The Common Read Experience offers students the opportunity to gain an important understanding of differing perspectives on the most significant issues of our times. Students build connections to the campus community through purposeful conversations and programs centered on the theme of the common read.
 

Inclusive access and support

ÂÌñÉç welcomes diverse perspectives, reflective of the world around us. We are committed to making sure that our students, staff and faculty are not only diverse, but also feel welcomed by an inclusive campus community.

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Individualized support for identified groups

 Student Affairs programs like the Educational Opportunity Program and Student Support Services provide financial assistance and a range of advising and academic support services to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. These and other offices, such as Services for Students with Disabilities, are critical to the success of under-represented and disadvantaged students at ÂÌñÉç.

Our Department for Student Transition and Success offers programs and resources to support students' academic, personal and professional development beginning when they first arrive on campus and carrying throughout their collegiate experience.

 

Student and staff recognition photo

Student and staff recognition

We believe in the importance of recognizing the hard work and achievements of our students and staff.

Held annually, the ÂÌñÉç Student Awards honor and recognize the outstanding achievements of our students who shine in and out of the classroom.

A staff recognition committee works year-round to create a pervasive culture of appreciation for the hard work, long hours and passion for supporting students exemplified by our staff.

 

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Divisional Diversity Initiative

The Student Affairs Divisional Diversity Initiatives (SADDI) Committee is a cross-section of professional staff, faculty and students that convenes monthly to strategically identify barriers that impede the success of underrepresented minority students. Culturally sensitive strategies and recommendations are sought for implementation with the divisional diversity officer’s advisement. Initiatives will collaboratively support the goals of ÂÌñÉç’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
The CARE Team (Consultation, Advocacy, Referral and Education) works through the Office of the Dean of Students to educate and inform members of the ÂÌñÉç community through caring, advocacy and supportive endeavors, empowering students and attending to their needs holistically through education and personal development. photo

CARE Team

The CARE Team (Consultation, Advocacy, Referral and Education) works through the Office of the Dean of Students to educate and inform members of the ÂÌñÉç community through caring, advocacy and supportive endeavors, empowering students and attending to their needs holistically through education and personal development.
The Residential Life Diversity Empowerment Education Program (DEEP) program promotes student engagement through a social justice lens for underrepresented minority students. DEEP Interns from the ÂÌñÉç Department of Social Work provide underrepresented students with wrap-around services and support in their residential communities. DEEP interns affirm and celebrate students' intersectional identities, assist with interpersonal conflict or other causes of student distress, and connect students to appropriate campus resources. photo

Diversity Empowerment Education Program

The Residential Life Diversity Empowerment Education Program (DEEP) program promotes student engagement through a social justice lens for underrepresented minority students. DEEP Interns from the ÂÌñÉç Department of Social Work provide underrepresented students with wrap-around services and support in their residential communities. DEEP interns affirm and celebrate students' intersectional identities, assist with interpersonal conflict or other causes of student distress, and connect students to appropriate campus resources.
 

Building community

ÂÌñÉç prides itself as a beautiful, welcoming residential campus, and we're continually investing in improving the spaces our students live, learn and play. From state-of-the-art recreational facilities to renovated residence and dining halls to gathering places like the University Union, we strive to make campus a place people want to be, which results in lasting friendships, convenient networking and a resilient Bearcat spirit.

The Union is the central gathering place on campus, housing classrooms, retail dining in the MarketPlace and Dunkin' Donuts, conference rooms, the University Bookstore, banking and campus mail services, as well as the Student Association and student organization offices, and the newly renovated Undergrounds, featuring study areas, a bowling alley and the student-run Roots Café. photo

The Union

The Union is the central gathering place on campus, housing classrooms, retail dining in the MarketPlace and Dunkin' Donuts, conference rooms, the University Bookstore, banking and campus mail services, as well as the Student Association and student organization offices, and the newly renovated Undergrounds, featuring study areas, a bowling alley and the student-run Roots Café.
The newly renovated Hinman Dining Center will reopen for the fall 2021 semester with state-of-the-art enhancements ready to greet the future of the Hinman and extended campus community. The new, all-inclusive dining center will be home to a re-imagined servery with up to nine dining concepts and a view-worthy dining room with expanded seating. Hinman Dining will also feature Starbucks Coffee, a Garbanzo’s Mediterranean Grill, student programming and study space, a rooftop terrace, a convenience store and a student culinary makerspace — a commercial-grade kitchen created for student culinary exploration. photo

Hinman Dining Hall renovation

The newly renovated Hinman Dining Center opened for the fall 2021 semester with state-of-the-art enhancements ready to greet the future of the Hinman and extended campus community. The new, all-inclusive dining center houses a re-imagined servery with up to nine dining concepts and a view-worthy dining room with expanded seating. Hinman Dining also features Starbucks Coffee, a Garbanzo’s Mediterranean Grill, student programming and study space, a rooftop terrace, a convenience store and a student culinary makerspace — a commercial-grade kitchen created for student culinary exploration.

Assessment

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Assessment and engagement

The Student Affairs Assessment and Solutions for Engagement (SAASE) office seeks to educate and collaborate with others to efficiently produce valuable information and facilitate engagement throughout the campus community. They help divisional offices collect, analyze and use data to enhance operations and programs to meet goals set by metrics determined by the University, and facilitate student engagement on campus with our University engagement tool, B-Engaged.